Grand Ole Barbershop Show a swinging time

Wednesday

Mar 7, 2018 at 4:20 PM

Brittany Szydelkobzydelko@ncnewspress.com

It was a swingin’ ol’ time at the 36th Annual Nebraska City Apple Corps Barbershop Chorus on Saturday evening, March 3 in the Wirth Theatre at the Lourdes Central Catholic School. This year’s theme “You’re a Grand Old Flag” that honored the United Service Organization (USO). The USO is a nonprofit organization that provides live entertainment to members of the United States Armed Forces and their families. Setting a scene to be proud of, the show included a tribute song called “Here’s to the Heroes” sang by the Apple Corps group and solo by Apple Corp retiree Bruce Jeffries that honored on stage the Nebraska City Police Chief, Dave Lacy, as the hero representing the police; Dennis Marshall of the Nebraska City Volunteer Fire Department as the hero representing the firemen; Mary Johnson of the Nebraska City Rescue, as the hero representing Emergency Management Services; the president and chief administrative officer for Lourdes Central Catholic High School, Fr. Mark Cyza, honored as the hero representing clergy; and the principal of Nebraska City High School, Brian Hoover, as the hero representing education; and Lynn Heng of the Nebraska Army National Guard as the hero representing military. Erv Friesen, 2018 Apple Corp President, announced the Apple Corps scholarship winners. Each Apple Corps scholarship was awarded in the amount of $500. The winners of the Diane English Scholarship were Aubrey Thurman and Rachelle Rice of Nebraska City High School. Thurman is the Daughter of Carol and Jim Thurman. Rice is the daughter of Christine and Robert Rice. The winner of the Tim Crook Jr. Scholarship was Chloe Higgins of Nebraska City High School who was unable to attend the ceremonies Saturday evening. Higgins is the daughter of Stacie and the late Dion Higgins.The winners of the NC Apple Corps Scholarships were Colin Joesting of Tarkio, Missouri High School and Carlos Serna of Nebraska City Lourdes High School. Joesting is the son of Julie and Steve Joesting. Serna is the son of Matilda and Carlos Serna.Tammy Partsch and Marcia Friesen of the Belles-a-Peelin’ group hosted the event with great old timing jokes and entertainment. Tammy Partsch presented Marcia Friesen with flowers and noted that Friesen has been with the Apple Corps show for 25 years.Mayor Bryan Bequette attended the evening show, and was asked on stage to be given the Harmony Award. This award is given to the person who has fostered harmony in the community. He thanked Erv and the entire Apple Corps for being there and supporting him from day one. Bequette said, “Running a city is not an individual effort, but a team effort. On behalf of the council and all of the people that serve on our boards and commissions and all of our leaders in the city from the city administrator, division directors, chiefs of police and firefighters all the way down to the folks that make this city go and grow every single day, I feel we are doing things right, so that is an honor. To the men of the Apple Corp, getting to know you all, not only do they work hard doing what they love singing and bringing performing arts to our town and keeping that alive, but as you look on this stage, it’s kind of a who’s who of community service. There’s a lot of hours and a lot of time counted and treasured that the men of the Apple Corps have given up for our community and surrounding communities. It’s really an honor to receive this.”The audience was moved by the many performances of the evening. The show included the Nebraska City Pink Ladies chorus, the Frontier Strings, and the Belles-a-Peelin’ group. The evening ended with a roaring 20’s performance by the special guest barbershop quartet with a twist: Boardwalk.